Seafood dump on the table in Boston

Hi, I am from London and currently planning a trip for next Spring to travel from Boston to New York and on to Philly and Washington DC. Please can anyone help to suggest a seafood place that dumps the seafood on the table and gives you a mallet?

Also I am open to any suggestions for just great places to visit and eat in Boston.

If you make it down to Baltimore I would recommend going to LP Steamers. It's not the cheapest or most expensive, but it's a unique Baltimore experience in the best way possible. Especially in the summer when it's packed to the brim, Orioles games on all the TV, and the possibility of eating on the rooftop deck.

Your crabs come and just get dumped on the table, they're more than happy to show new people how to properly pick a blue shell, and their seasoning mix is awesome. They're accessible to anyone staying downtown and provide great food and atmosphere.

There are better crab shacks closer to the Chesapeake Bay and outside of Baltimore but I would still recommend LP Steamers to tourists and locals alike.

I grew up in Maryland, went to school in Boston, and now live in Baltimore.

I've never seen what you're describing here, but I had that type of experience in Maryland (at O'Brycki's). You'd have better luck in Boston looking for a seafood tower for the "holy cow that's a lot of seafood!" experience. But my recommendation is to search for places that do oysters on the half shell, steamer clams or even mussels. You'll find great examples of those in the Boston area. If you use the search box at the top right side of this page, you should find some recommendations, and if you come back with a list of places you're considering, you should get some great feedback.

The seafood tower at Row 34 is pretty outstanding. It includes a full lobster, and ceviche in addition to the normal oysters (pristine), shrimp and clams. Make a reservation early, as in several months in advance. You can supplement that with other dishes and you will be saying holy cow. Also, be aware they serve beer and wine only.

I have to revisit my Row 34 suggestion to note that the lobster served on our seafood tower this weekend was an extremely soggy soft shell variety - quite disappointing. The rest of the tower was still excellent however.

Another thing about Row 34 now that I have been there quite a few times is that it's not comfortable. The hard metal chairs might be some of the most uncomfortable seats in Boston. Considering the reservation so difficult to score and an expensive tab, the overall atmosphere just isn't very comfortable and relaxing beyond the first impression of the space. The newly opened patio seats are pretty nice this time of year, but the dining room doesn't offer a lot of prime seats.

Not that I would recommend the food there, but the closest I can think of is Barking Crab that gives you big rocks to smash your crabs with. I haven't been since they were found to be pumping Boston Harbor water into their seafood tanks, but that's got to be 10 years ago now. Not sure if anyone has more recent experience they could share.

BTW... The standard utencils for shellfish in Boston are a lobster cracker and pick, along with a little fork. You can / will get those anywhere.